Obama Holds Pre-Rosh Hashanah Call With 600 Rabbis

Rosh Hashanah begins this evening. As reported by JTA, last Monday President Obama held a pre-holiday conference call with over 600 rabbis from the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstuctionist movements of Judaism.  In his opening remarks (full text), the President said in part:

... Rosh Hashanah is a time for reflection, and I'm not exempt from that. So, looking back on the last eight years, I'm both proud of what we've accomplished together, but also mindful of the work we have before us.....

... [W]e've still got a lot of work to do -- on the refugee crisis, on criminal justice reform, reducing violence, and creating a political culture in this country that’s a little more functional. But a new year brings new hope, and the community represented on this phone call has always known what it means to stand up for the less fortunate, the stranger, the immigrant, the refugee.

Jewish Religious Court Lacks Standing To Appeal Bankruptcy Stay of Its Proceedings

As previously reported, last year a New York federal bankruptcy court held that the statutory automatic stay of proceedings against a debtor that is triggered by the filing of a petition in a bankruptcy reorganization applies to invalidate proceedings against a debtor and its principals brought in a Jewish religious court (bais din). In In re Congregation Birdchos Yosef, (SD NY, Sept. 27, 2016), a New York federal district court dismissed for lack of standing an appeal of the bankruptcy court's decision brought by the Jewish religious court involved:

 Any effect on the Bais Din from that decision is indirect, seeks to challenge orders directed at third parties, and is insufficient to confer standing.....

Appellant argues that “[t]he Bais Din is a gatekeeper who ensure [sic] that community members can seek to enforce community standards and Jewish law,” and that the Bankruptcy Court’s Order enforcing the automatic stay “interferes with this function.”... This contention underscores the lack of any direct, financial impact the Bankruptcy Court’s Order has had – or could have – on the Bais Din....

That the Bais Din claims that its or its constituents’ constitutional right to the free exercise of religion was impaired by the Bankruptcy Court’s ruling does not give it standing.

Supreme Court Calendar Adjusted This Year For Jewish High Holidays

National Law Journal reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has adjusted its argument calendar to accommodate the Jewish High Holidays which this year come in early October.  The first day of Rosh Hashana falls on Oct. 3-- the first Monday in October.  While 28 USC Sec. 2 requires the Supreme Court to begin its term on the first Monday in October, this year the Court will only hold a brief session that day for announcements and swearing in new members of the Supreme Court bar. The Court also will not sit at all on Yom Kippur, October 12.  Currently 3 Justices are Jewish-- Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan.  Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland is also Jewish.

Defendant Wears Religious Texts As Protest Against Judge

The New York Post reports (with accompanying photos) that on Wednesday a defendant charged with various drug offenses appeared in a Brooklyn, New York trial court wearing a shirt he had made from newsprint carrying Hebrew writings of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe. He also wore a paper hat carrying seven of the Ten Commandments.  Defendant Aaron Akaberi-- who has professed a series of different religious beliefs-- says he did this as a protest against the judge who had refused to allow him to read passages from Jewish texts into the record at an earlier pre-trial hearing. His hearing was adjourned to a later date.

Brooklyn District Elects First Hasidic Female Judge In New York

The Windsor Terrace Patch reports that Rachel Freier will become the first Hasidic Jewish woman elected as a judge in New York state.  Frier won 41% of the votes in a 3-way Democratic primary for 5th District Civil Court in Kings County.  The district encompasses various communities in Brooklyn.  Apparently Freier will be unopposed in the November election.  Freier, a mother of six and and attorney, is particularly known for her role in founding Ezras Nashim, an all-female volunteer EMT service for the observant Jewish community.

Israel's Supreme Court OK's Sabbath Rail Line Repairs

Yesterday Israel's Supreme Court sitting as the High Court of Justice stepped into the government's political battle over whether planned repairs to the country's commuter rail lines can take place on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath.  As reported by JTA, last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled permits issued by Transportation Minister (and political rival) Yisrael Katz that allowed the work to proceed on the Sabbath.  Katz's permits led the ultra-Orthodox parties (part of Netanyahu's coalition government) to threaten to bring down the government. Netanyahu's intervention meant that the repair work did not pick up until Saturday night and this led to traffic jams and stranded commuters on Sunday (a workday in Israel).

Following this, a left-wing lawmaker (Meretz party) filed a petition with Israel's Supreme Court seeking to get the Sabbath repairs to move ahead.  As reported by The Forward and Arutz Sheva, yesterday the Court issued an interim order barring Netanyahu from stopping urgent Saturday work.  According to the Court, the Railway Authority has been issued a permit allowing Saturday work during the entire month of September, and only the Labor Minister has authority to revoke the permit.  A special Knesset session to discuss the matter has been postponed until September 19, so that Arab members of the Knesset who will be celebrating Eid Al-Adha the week before will be able to attend.

Israel's Parliament Enacts Law To Circumvent Court Ruling On Use of Mikvehs By Non-Orthodox Jewish Groups

According to the Jerusalem Post, in Israel on Monday the Knesset (Parliament) passed a controversial law that essentially circumvents an Israeli Supreme Court ruling last February (see prior posting) that opened publicly funded mikvehs  (ritual bath facilities) operated by Orthodox-controlled religious councils for use by the Conservative and Reform Jewish movements for their conversion ceremonies as well as for Orthodox conversions. The new law allows local rabbinates to limit which groups can use public mikveh facilities, essentially assuring that they will only be open to Orthodox Jewish use. At the same time, the government has proposed that the Jewish Agency-- whose funds come largely from private contributions by Jewish communities outside of Israel-- build up to four mikvehs for use by the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements. The new law does not take effect for nine months to provide time for these new mikvehs to be built. The more liberal streams of Judaism doubt whether the construction can take place that quickly. This is part of a broader struggle by non-Orthodox streams of Judaism to gain more official recognition in Israel, and strong Orthodox resistance to those attempts.

Plaintiffs Lack Standing To Challenge Florida Chabad Center

In Gagliardi v. City of Boca Raton, (SD FL, July 21, 2016), a Florida federal district court dismissed on standing grounds a challenge by residents and taxpayers of Boca Raton to zoning changes by the city that permitted a Chabad (Hasidic Jewish) group to construct a religious center.  Plaintiffs, who identified themselves as Christians, claim that the city's actions violated the Establishment clause, the equal protection and due process clauses, and the Florida Constitution.  Dismissing the complaint, with leave to file an amended complaint, the court said in part:

Plaintiffs fail to allege any injury at all, let alone one that is concrete and particularized. The closest they come to asserting an injury is when they allege that the building is “injurious to residents in the area including” Plaintiffs.... This allegation is insufficient because it merely states in conclusory fashion that the building is “injurious” without specifying how it causes injury...

Rejecting plaintiff's claim of taxpayer standing, the court said in part:

The only expenditure they identify is the payment of salaries to City employees who allegedly “provided favorable treatment to one religious group.”... “Nearly all governmental activities are conducted or overseen by employees whose salaries are funded by tax dollars. To confer taxpayer standing on such a basis would allow any municipal taxpayer to challenge virtually any governmental action at anytime...."

Palm Beach Sun Sentinel reports on the decision.

Difficult Week For New York Orthodox Rabbi As Politics of U.S. and Israel Cause Him Problems

It has been a difficult week for respected Modern Orthodox Rabbi Haskel Lookstein.  Lookstein is the Rabbi Emeritus of Manhattan's Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, the synagogue attended by Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law. Lookstein is also the rabbi who sponsored Ivanka Trump's conversion to Judaism.  So this week he was tapped to offer an invocation at the Republican National Convention. However a petition (full text) signed by over 800 Orthodox Jews took Lookstein to task, saying in part:

We, the undersigned, are outraged that Rabbi Haskel Lookstein – rabbi emeritus of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and the Ramaz School – has decided to lend his blessing to Donald Trump and speak at the Republican National Convention.

Donald Trump openly spouts racist, misogynistic rhetoric; he advocates torture, the expulsion of millions of families, some long settled in America, and insinuates that some citizens of this great country are somehow less than others.

So Lookstein decided not to speak at the Convention after all, saying: " The whole matter turned from rabbinic to political, something which was never intended."  The Forward reports on these developments.

Meanwhile, as reported by the Times of Israel, Israel's Supreme Rabbinical Court, the court which hears appeals in personal status matters, ruled on Wednesday that it will not recognize religious conversions performed by Rabbi Lookstein in the United States. It required an American woman who had converted to Judaism under Lookstein's auspices to convert again in Israel in order to get married there.  The ruling, of course, calls into question the Israeli rabbinate's willingness to recognize Ivanka Trump's conversion as well.  Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau says he recognizes Lookstein's conversions, but the Chief Rabbinate is separate from the Supreme Rabbinical Court. Israeli officials such as Jewish Agency head Natan Sharanksy also back Lookstein.

NYC Human Rights Commission OKs Limited Women-Only Swimming Hours

As reported yesterday by dna info, the New York City Human Rights Commission has granted the city's Parks Department a limited exemption for gender anti-discrimination rules in order to accommodate religious objections to mixed gender swims at two of the city's pools.  Reserving a limited number of hours for women-only swimming to accommodate Hasidic Jewish women had become a controversial issue in recent weeks, with the New York Times last month editorializing against the practice. However now an HRC spokesman says:

Everyone in New York City should have an equal opportunity to enjoy recreation centers.  After weighing the Parks Department’s request for an exemption for limited women-only swimming hours at two Brooklyn pools and balancing the impact on the broader community, the Commission has granted a limited exemption. Maintaining limited women-only swim hours at these pools will allow all women to enjoy the pool without being asked to compromise their religious beliefs or affiliations and will have a minimal impact on other community members’ ability to access the pool.

The Parks Department though will substantially reduce the number of women-only swim hours to four hours per week.

Israeli Court Tells City To Remove Religiously Inspired Signs Directing Women To Wear Modest Clothes

In Israel yesterday, the Jerusalem District Court ordered the mayor of the city of Beit Shemesh to remove signs posted around the city by ultra-Orthodox Jews instructing women to wear long sleeves and long skirts. Other signs tell women to keep off sidewalks near synagogues and yeshivas where men congregate.  According to today's Haaretz, the suit seeking removal of the signs was filed three years ago on behalf of four Orthodox women who live in Beit Shemesh. They argue that the signs encourage violence and harassment against women who ignore them.  A Magistrate's Court ruled in the women's favor last year (see prior posting), but the city has ignored the ruling. So plaintiffs went to a higher court which has now given the city's mayor three weeks to remove the signs, and told the city to act more forcefully in the future to prevent new signs from going up.

Canada Denies Entry To U.S. Mohel

Canadian border officials last month refused entry into Canada to a Detroit-based mohel who was crossing into neighboring Windsor in order to perform a Jewish ritual circumcision for a family in Windsor.  According to a June 8 report by the Detroit Jewish News, Dr. Craig Singer (a physician, as well as a mohel certified by Hebrew Union College) was told by border officials that he would need a permit as a temporary foreign worker, and that he could be prosecuted for performing a surgical procedure in Canada without proper authorization. Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, Paragraph 186(l) provide that a foreign national may work in Canada without a work permit "as a person who is responsible for assisting a congregation or group in the achievement of its spiritual goals and whose main duties are to preach doctrine, perform functions related to gatherings of the congregation or group or provide spiritual counselling."  Enforcement guidelines provide:

Persons seeking entry under the authority of R186(l) should be able to provide documentation to support their request for entry that addresses: the genuineness of the offer of employment of the religious denomination that seeks to employ them; and their ability to minister to a congregation under the auspices of that religious denomination.

In UK, Proposed Counter Extremism Bill Will Include Provisions Aimed At Unregistered Orthodox Jewish High Schools

The Independent reported Saturday that a Counter Extremism Bill being drafted by Britain's Home Office will contain new provisions aimed at unregistered Orthodox Jewish high schools which educate boys only in religious subjects.  Classes are taught in Yiddish. Former pupils have alleged that physical beatings are common and teachers often encourage students to enter arranged marriages at age 18.  Some students leave school unable to speak English. The schools serve the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community of north London.  Apparently Hackney Council officials have been aware of the schools for several years, but cooperated with religious schools to destroy records of students disappearing from the rolls of registered schools.  Britain's Department of Education says it is intensifying investigations into unregistered schools. The new focus by the government apparently stemmed from a report published in April by The Independent. [Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]

Federal Court Dismisses Challenge To State Custody Order

In Goffstein v. Sieve, (SD OH, June 2, 2016), an Ohio federal district court dismissed a suit claiming that an Ohio domestic relations court judge in removing custody of four children from their Orthodox Jewish mother had infringed the mother's right to control the education of her children and the children's right to practice their religion. The court gave custody to the father who was no longer practicing Orthodox Judaism and who sent the children to public school instead of to yeshivas. The court held that its review of the claims is precluded by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine which bars lower federal courts from conducting appellate review of final state-court judgments.

Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine Leads To Dismissal of Consumer Fraud Complaint Against Cemetery

In Mammon v. SCI Funeral Services of Florida, Inc., (FL App., May 25, 2016), a Florida appellate court invoked the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine to dismiss a consumer fraud complaint against a cemetery brought by a widow who claimed that the cemetery gave false assurances that her late husband would be buried in accordance with Jewish burial customs and traditions. A month after her husband was buried, the widow discovered that the cemetery allowed non-Jews to be buried in the same section of the cemetery, a practice which she alleged violated Jewish burial traditions. Defendants however cited theological debates among rabbis on whether there are exceptions to the ban. The court held that:

although the widow’s complaint is framed in counts alleging deceptive and fraudulent misrepresentations regarding “Jewish burial customs and traditions,” the disposition of those counts cannot be accomplished without first determining, as a matter of fact, what constitutes “Jewish burial customs and traditions.” *** That preliminary determination would violate the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.

Court Places Control of Historic Touro Synagogue In Hands of Newport, Rhode Island Congregation

Yesterday, in a 106 page opinion in Congregation Jeshuat Israel v. Congregation Shearith Israel, (D RI, May 16, 2016), a Rhode Island federal district court held that Newport, Rhode Island's Touro Synagogue is owned in charitable trust for the purpose of preserving a permanent place of Jewish public worship and that the trustee of the synagogue should be Newport's Congregation Jeshuat Israel.  In appointing the local congregation as trustee, the court removed New York's Shearith Israel congregation from that role finding that it had breached its duties.  The court also held that a  pair of historic silver Torah ornaments worth some $7 million previously owned by Newport's early Jewish residents are now owned by the local congregation which is free to sell them to raise funds to keep the synagogue open. New York Times reports on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

Suit Charges Rabbi With Sexual Abuse of High School Boy

AP reports on a federal court lawsuit filed yesterday in Connecticut by 28-year old Eliyahu Mirlis against Rabbi Daniel Greer and the Jewish high school and elementary school that the rabbi heads.  The suit alleges that between 2001 and 2005 Rabbi Greer (then in his 60's) forced plaintiff to engage in sexual acts with him. The suit alleges that the sexual assaults took place on school property, at Greer's home and elsewhere. Greer is a graduate of Princeton and Yale Law School.  In 2002 he testified before the state legislature in opposition to same-sex unions.  He was also previously a member of the New Haven police commissioners' board.  The suit also alleges that the schools allowed the abuse to go on for years, and that Greer abused at least one other boy.

President Declares May As Jewish American Heritage Month

Last week, President Obama issued a Proclamation (full text) declaring May as Jewish American Heritage Month. The Proclamation reads in part:

Jewish Americans, having shared in the struggle for freedom, have been instrumental in ensuring our Nation stays true to the principles enshrined in our founding documents. They have helped bring about enduring progress in every aspect of our society, shaping our country's character and embodying the values we hold dear.

Yesterday, Democratic leader Nancy Peolsi also issued a statement  on Jewish American Heritage Month.

Hasidic Challengers To Zoning Law Suffer a Defeat on Appeal

LostMessiah blog reports:

A [New York] state appeals court has upheld the Village of Woodbury’s Comprehensive Plan and zoning laws, reversing a 2014 ruling that branded the zoning “exclusionary” for failing to accommodate the high-density housing needs of the Hasidic residents of neighboring Kiryas Joel.

In Matter of Village of Kiryas Joel, N.Y. v Village of Woodbury, N.Y., (NY App. Div., April 10, 2016), the appeals court concluded that the trial court should not have annulled the village's zoning action on environmental review and other procedural grounds. It sent the case back to the trial court, holding that "triable issues of fact exist as to whether the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Amendments amount to unconstitutional exclusionary zoning." (See prior related posting).

2nd Circuit Affirms Win By Rockland County Villages Charged With Anti-Hasidic Discrimination

In the long battle between Hasidic residents and others in parts of Rockland County, New York, the Second Circuit has affirmed the district court's dismissal (see prior posting) of a complaint by Mosdos Chofetz Chaim, a Hasidic religious educational institution, that local villages discriminated against Hasidic Jews in actions opposing the building of a 60-unit adult student housing development.  In Bernstein v. Village of Wesley Hills, (2d Cir., March 23, 2016), the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that plaintiffs' had not produced sufficient evidence for a jury to find disparate treatment or discriminatory animus.  Instead, it said the villages had a genuine concern about environmental impact of the development. Lower Hudson Journal News reports on the decision.